Tags: renewable energy

Cattails, those wetland mainstays, are a becoming a popular tool for use in phytoremediation, the use of plants to remove and control environmental pollutants.  Arsenic, pharmaceuticals, even chemicals from explosives–cattails have been used in absorbing all of them.  This sounds promising to us. 

Representatives from some of the country’s largest waste management companies have been lamenting the lost potential of President Obama’s green stimulus bill to directly support the growth of waste-to-energy operations.  The US is currently dishing out $60 billion in energy grants and tax breaks meant to reduce dependence on coal plants blamed for global warming–but unlike wind or solar, none of that money is directly designated for waste-to-energy. 

One of the environmental concerns surrounding the recent boom in wind farm development is the potential threat of large-scale bird mortality.  There’s nuance to the degree of potential threat related to factors like scale and siting (i.e., more threat when turbines are sited near migratory pathways, nesting areas and mountain passes, for example), but the risk remains. 

Chargepoint is a network of electric vehicle charging stations that have been installed cities across the US and Canada.  If that wasn’t a timely and smart enough sounding business venture,  Carbon Day Automotive recently installed a Solar Powered Chargepoint station in Chicago. 

Another case study we’re looking at: The New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (NJMC) has proposed the construction of a 5 MW solar farm to be built on top of the Erie Landfill.  This would be the largest solar array built in New Jersey to date and could potentially power up to 600 homes per year. 

Republic Services, Inc. has covered portions of its Tessman Road Landfill in San Antonio, TX  with 1000 flexible, laminate-type photovoltaic (PV) solar collection strips that are configured to maximize the hours of sunlight exposure throughout the year, based on the landfill’s design and site contours.

Did we mention that we are trying to develop a research and development agenda for Freshkills Park?  Park development over the next several years will only be able to open up about 100 acres of the 2,200-acre site to the public.

While we’re on the subject of alternative power plants: WebEcoist has posted a rundown of 15 cutting-edge biofuels.  Pretty exciting stuff.  As mentioned before, the Freshkills Park site already harvests natural gas from decomposing waste, but we’re interested in developing the site’s capacity to generate energy from other biomass, too. 

A recently announced 200 million euro project in Venice, Italy will harvest algae from seaweed in the city’s canals for use in creating emissions-free energy.  Laboratory-based algae power plants will produce 40 megawatts of electricity–half the energy required by Venice’s city center.

If you want to learn more about solar energy and its implementation, I Heart PV, a pro-solar campaign launched out of Solar One Green Energy, Arts & Education Center, will be giving a special presentation at The Park Slope Food Coop tomorrow  on Photovoltaic technology (“PV”) and current attempts to establish New York as a leader in solar adoption.

TED talks are the best.  Here’s a video of Saul Griffith from Makani Power talking about the giant kites he’s been working on.  Kites with wind turbines mounted on them. These ‘kite turbines’ harness energy from high-altitude wind currents and send it earthward through cables. 

This is pretty inspiring: Ohio Valley Creative Energy (OVCE) is trying to build art studios for glass, ceramics and metal work, powered by landfill gas.  They’re focused on public education about sustainability through artwork and big-idea design, and they worked with a group of art students from Meyzeek Middle school in Louisville, KY to create this stop-motion animated video demonstrating how methane gas can be used as a renewable energy source for use by arts facilities.